Hungary gives more than €2bln to support families during the epidemic

Hungarian government decided to reinforce the public support for families during the epidemic. During today’s press conference Katalin Novák, State Secretary for Family, Youth and International Affairs, said that thanks to the Family Protection Action Plan, the government is giving 800 billion forints (around 2,2 billions of euros) to families.

The plan includes subsidies scheme for families with children, car purchase support and construction of new daycare facilities. She also introduced new measures, such as job retraining programs, student loans for adults and the lifting of employee contributions in certain career paths.

Applications will require the submission of fewer documents and banks will have to process applications within 30 days of home purchases and 60 days for home construction.

“The government will continue supporting families during the coronavirus epidemic,” adding that the coronavirus poses a great challenge for every family,” said Katalin Novak.

“Since 2010, the government has been working on making it easier to start a family and build savings. Demographic data shows that the family-focused policy has already borne fruit, as the numbers of marriages and births have increased,” she added.

Hungarian family politics produced in January 2020 9.4 % more births than the year before, almost 100% more marriages, and children per woman from 1.4 to 1.6, the Hungarian ambassador to the Holy See Eduard Habsburgtweeted.